Chair Snatching (5)
“Hmm……”
“Uh……”
“Ahem……”
An awkward silence blanketed the room. The very monk who had sparked it all simply sat there, calmly rolling his prayer beads.
“I told him not to smash his head in…… and he goes and rips out his heart instead?”
Nam Hwaseong's gruff remark drew involuntary nods from everyone around. Their eyes turned to Jin Sowoon, the perpetrator of this absurd feat, silently demanding an explanation.
But Jin Sowoon merely glanced at Ilgak's gleaming bald head before shrugging nonchalantly.
“Well, that's how it turned out. Just get along from now on.”
“……”
He brushed it off with the barest minimum of an explanation. Shouldn't he at least clarify why Ilgak had joined the representative committee as an executive? Eunho stared at Ilgak with a face full of certainty, his eyes brimming with pity—as if he knew the monk's full story.
“Monk…… Did Senior Brother use some vile trick to seize your weakness and blackmail you?”
Eunho asked politely, not wanting to commit sins that would send him to hell. But the answer came from Jin Sowoon.
“What do you take me for, some blackmailer……? Well, okay, I do blackmail when necessary……”
The group nodded with knowing looks—Yeah, we get it—before clearing their throats under Jin Sowoon's sharp glare.
“Anyway, he's joined on his own accord to atone for his karma. Relax.”
Why does 'no blackmail' make us relax? The executives swallowed their fundamental question and turned skeptical eyes to Ilgak instead: Is that true?
Ilgak, however, was too busy rolling his beads rapidly, as if chasing away worldly delusions.
“Oh, and right! No need to suspect him of being a spy.”
No shit! Even if Jeongdohoe pulled idiotic stunts, why would they plant someone like Ilgak as a spy?
Ilgak's fingers twitched slightly on the beads, but they soon resumed their steady rhythm as if nothing had happened.
“Damn it! I joined on my own too—why do they always suspect me of being the spy?”
Nam Hwaseong's outburst earned an incredulous look from Jin Sowoon.
“You're not a big shot like him.”
“What, what?”
“If you're that butt-hurt, become a big shot.”
“Son of a bitch!”
Nam Hwaseong stormed out, face twisted. Eunho muttered, “He's in for it again,” and slumped his shoulders sympathetically.
Just as Jin Sowoon's group reeled from the shock, Ilgak's sudden integration into the committee ignited massive controversy across the academy.
“Ilgak the monk joining the executive committee……? That's impossible!”
“Did you mishear the representative unification announcement?”
“Mishear that? Why would Ilgak unify with Jin Sowoon of all people?!”
Ilgak transcended mere symbolism as Jeongdohoe's leader; he embodied the current academy generation's spirit. Many students respected him beyond faction lines, making his move feel utterly radical.
“Does this mean Ilgak acknowledges Jin Sowoon?”
“More than that—wasn't Jin Sowoon the academy rep to begin with?”
“So Jeongdohoe acknowledges Representative Jin Sowoon too?”
Ilgak's abrupt decision sowed chaos within Jeongdohoe itself. Supporters and critics clashed in heated arguments.
“What the hell is this? Suddenly everyone's acting like Jeongdohoe supports Jin Sowoon!”
“Ilgak joined the committee—what choice do we have?”
“No choice? This could shatter Jeongdohoe's spirit!”
“……Then go grab him by the hair and drag him back.”
“What hair to grab……?!”
Harsh words flew, harsher than any Demonic Cult taunt. Jeongdohoe's blunders in Sichuan had already bred resentment against entrenched powers, leaving elites too cautious to unite.
Did Baekdohoe profit? Hardly. They had slithered into the vacuum to shake Jeongdohoe, only to freeze at Ilgak's curveball.
“Does this mean Jeongdohoe refuses to ally with Baekdohoe no matter what?”
“Jeongdohoe and Baekdohoe walk separate paths but are companions. Why antagonize us suddenly?”
“Then Ilgak's motive makes no sense.”
“Jin Sowoon must've grabbed him by the hair!”
“No hair to grab…… Ahem.”
They spent the time puzzling over Ilgak's political implications—unaware the hair jokes targeted his bald pate. Ilgak sat awkwardly in the committee room.
“Jin lay devotee…… What duties do I have here?”
“Duties? How would a monk know worldly affairs……? Just sit there and nod like a sleepy chicken whenever I speak.”
“……”
Jin Sowoon bustled about, assigning tasks to Jang Ujae's recruits. Jang Ujae's face soured at his Mantongbu assignment. Others were busy too; only Ilgak idled like a stone statue.
Even a wall-gazing ascetic would chafe at idleness amid the hustle. Ilgak stepped up.
“Since I've joined the committee, teach me properly. Tell me what you need, Jin lay devotee.”
Jin Sowoon whipped out documents like he'd been waiting.
“If you insist that much, I have to give you work.”
“What's this?”
“Baekdohoe-affiliated sects we need to prioritize pulling to our side.”
Ilgak scanned the list, grasping the intent.
“……You're telling me to spy?”
He stared incredulously.
“Spy? Just chat them up, win some goodwill, and get 'em to defect.”
“……That's called being an undercover agent.”
“Hoh……!”
Jin Sowoon narrowed his eyes in mock surprise.
“You know worldly ways so well…… I can entrust you with more. Very reassuring! Haha!”
What is this? Ilgak felt baited. Watching Jin Sowoon's booming laugh, he wondered if he'd misjudged him as enlightened before. Regret always came too late.
#
Shocking news reaches ears regardless of truth. Like Ilgak joining Jin Sowoon's committee.
Jin Sowoon……
He'd dismissed it as nonsense at first. But seeing Jin Sowoon at the cafeteria, picking meat from Ilgak's fetched side dishes, made it undeniable.
A natural question followed: How did he pull it off?
The obvious answer—blackmail—didn't hold. Baekdohoe knew what Jin Sowoon knew. Despite academy collaborations, they'd compete in the Murim Alliance. Guarding flaws was instinct.
Especially for Ilgak. Blackmail wouldn't budge him.
Unresolved doubts twisted into self-serving blame.
“Ilgak acts because he hates Baekdohoe taking the representative seat.”
Jeonggi's assertion prompted the expected retort.
“Even so, what does Ilgak gain joining Jin Sowoon?”
Jeonggi, too sharp to falter, spun it masterfully.
“Jeongdohoe faces criticism as unfit after Sichuan. Their last gasp: make it seem Jin Sowoon's superiority keeps him rep, not their incompetence.”
Nods rippled through.
“Above all, Ilgak moves personally because our might terrifies them.”
Baekdohoe's interim executives lit up. Jeonggi smiled smugly.
“Reclaiming the seat from Jin Sowoon is all but certain.”
Interpreting Ilgak's move as fear of Baekdohoe motivated them, boosting confidence in their event.
#
Jeonggi feigned calm, but inside, chaos reigned.
Truly unpredictable.
Jin Sowoon defied logic. Not just Ilgak—from freeing imprisoned Jegal Cheongi despite his machine obsessions, to receiving the entry plaque from grandfather Jegal Somyeong.
That plaque, denied even to blood kin, given to a third-rate sect disciple? Betrayal stung. Yet Jegal Somyeong wouldn't…… until he learned Jin Sowoon passed it to Moyong Jaehwa for his exam pass. Absurd.
An utter wildcard. A thunderbolt veering unpredictably. That's what Jin Sowoon was to Jeonggi.
And the unpredictable one visited unexpectedly.
“You added Ilgak to your executive committee?”
Jin Sowoon ignored the question, staring blankly at his purple flower tea.
“……Huh? Oh, yeah. That's what happened.”
Utterly inscrutable.
“Must be nice.”
“Nice? Can't booze at banquets now, gotta order no-meat meals. Headache city.”
And…… seemingly insane.
“How'd you convince Ilgak?”
“Convince?”
“He's not swayed by money. Blackmail?”
“Hoh, you always grab weaknesses to persuade?”
“Else why move?”
Jin Sowoon shrugged casually.
“Nothing special. Just asked him to join. If motivated, blame my shining personality.”
“Crazy……”
“Huh? What was that?”
Jeonggi steered away from nonsense.
“So, what's your business today?”
“……Hmm, why am I here?”
Eyes fixed on the rippling tea, he posed a koan and clammed up. This confirmed Jeonggi's conviction: Unpredictable power would doom the academy. It needed an upright, non-abusive rep.
Thus, he couldn't waste his clan's gift.
Chilseongchilgeumjin. The Jegal clan's pinnacle qimen dunjia formation. Great powers were defined by it.
Now, after twenty years, the elders and tech geniuses unveiled Yang's Eight Trigrams Myriad Forms Formation—12,000 paths versus the old 5,000. A death trap inescapable till demise.
Some claimed Muryangbulgolmokhonjin shattered Jegal myths. But the academy proved it: Uncontrollable, it devoured allies too.
Thus, the world still craved Chilseongchilgeumjin.
With Black Path alliances, suspicious Nokrim, and Blood Cult emergence amid tensions, curiosity for a stronger formation would explode. Academy reps couldn't skip the demo.
Public sway would rally instructors against Jin Sowoon. Victory was sealed.
Finally, that smug face twisted in shock?
Jeonggi smirked at the tea-staring Jin Sowoon.
#
As the event neared, Baekdohoe revealed their spectacle: Jegal clan's new qimen dunjia.
The unrevealed formation buzzed the academy, Murim Alliance, and jianghu.
Everyone scrambled intel via connections. Students drowned in missives from sects and kin: Get Jegal's new formation details first!
One snag.
“Baekdohoe's event overlaps Representative Jin's.”
“He's officially inviting Hyeongsanpa for lectures on talismans and spirit control.”
“I planned to attend Jeongdohoe's too.”
Both stellar, but impossible to split. One tied to life, the other to sect survival. Pure agony.
Amid the academy's ferment.
“Huff huff! Damn it! Why am I the only one digging?!”
“What? I'm digging too.”
Nam Hwaseong, scouring the drill ground, eyed Jin Sowoon's larger dug patches.
“This okay?”
“Hell no, punk! Dig faster if you want dinner!”
“But Baekdohoe's demoing a new qimen dunjia. Shouldn't you deploy at least that Muryangbulgolmokhonjin from before?”
“Know how much oneMuryangbulgolmokhonjin costs?”
“Then folks won't come for this Gu-gungmihonjin crap.”
Jin Sowoon shook his head pityingly.
“People love freebies.”
“Freebies?”
“Yeah. Hyeongsanpa's the main draw. This formation? Bonus.”
“……”
Would they see Gu-gungmihonjin as a good bonus? Nam Hwaseong pondered unusually hard.
Nope. Even he preferred Jegal's novelty over learnable Alliance talismans.
Public sentiment mirrored his.
What's he scheming?
“Oi! Dig!”
Nam Hwaseong shelved doubts on the formation or plan. A more pressing gripe loomed.
“My question: Why me digging alone? Committee's packed!”
“They're working.”
“M-me too!”
“Spies don't work…… Dig.”
“……”
Fear it was truly pointless gripped him, yet Nam Hwaseong obeyed.
“Hup!”
Staring at diligently digging Jin Sowoon, he chose blind faith—like in Sichuan. Trusting him never backfired.
“Spy! Dig faster!”
Though his treatment sucked.
“Sh-shit! I'm no spy!”
“Slacking proves you are.”
“……”
Still, Nam Hwaseong couldn't chuck the shovel.